


Forever and a Day

by cakeengland



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: M/M, it's only one-sided though, kind of an AU novelization, the NekuJosh kinda only starts in the second week, until the aftermath
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 15:05:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4629813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakeengland/pseuds/cakeengland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The Reapers' Game. It's something I've never heard of before. So why are all the Reapers acting like I should know? They tell me I have to survive seven days, but for what? I don't even know why I'm here. All I know is that my name's Neku Sakuraba."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on FFN.

Neku growled in annoyance as the bright sun shone into his eyes, ducking his face into his collar in an attempt to shield himself from the blinding light. Stupid sun. Why did people even like cloudless days? Rain was only water- it wouldn't kill someone. He didn't get people.

Headphones fitting snugly over his ears, drowning out the sounds of everyday life, Neku glanced down the street. Scramble Crossing was packed with people- a human traffic jam. To be fair, it was what Neku had been expecting. It was lunch hour- hoping for anything else on a sunny day was wishful thinking. Still, it didn't hurt to check.

"Screw that," he decided. There was no way he was dealing with that mess. It would take far too long for him to get through without going insane. His music could only muffle so much noise.

Sure, other routes would take longer, but at least he'd retain his sanity. That would be nice. It wasn't like he was in a rush, anyway- his parents wouldn't be home for a few more hours, anyway.

Neku paused, considering what options he had. The quickest alternative route, he deduced, was also the riskiest. It featured many streets, and very few pedestrian crossings. Then again, drivers on those streets were relatively careful. He would be safe enough.

Adjusting his headphones, Neku turned on his heel, headed in the direction of his newly chosen route. Much to his relief, a cloud had hid the sun. Being blinded was not exactly at the top of his to-do list.

It didn't take long for Neku to fall into a rhythmic walk, the music emitting from his headphones the only thing breaking the monotonous simplicity.

He crossed the first few streets without difficulty, as he had expected. Apparently some people still took the Scramble Crossing route in these circumstances. Idiots.

Neku was halfway across the final street when the car came swerving out of nowhere. His eyes widened in the 'deer in headlights' look, his feet frozen in place despite the imminent danger and he was _pretty sure_ his heartbeat wasn't that fast before.

The collision wiped his thoughts as he crumpled to the ground, breathless. His skull smashed against the ground, and through hazy vision, Neku saw a sticky crimson liquid seep onto the road.

A few critical minutes later, his vision faded to black.


	2. The Reapers' Game

_Ugh… where am I?_

His head aching, Neku peeled open his eyes. His vision doubled before sliding into focus. Neku inhaled deeply, waiting for the feeling of daggers being driven into his skull to fade. Once it subsided to a more manageable level, he actually looked around.

He was lying on the ground. Red flag number one. The surface beneath him appeared to be a crossing. Red flag number two. People didn’t seem to notice his presence. Red flag number… wait, what the hell?

Panic clawed at Neku’s heart as he scrambled to his feet, pressing a hand to his temple as the headache returned as a repercussion of his actions. Sure, he preferred to be left alone, but he’d been _passed out in the middle of the street._ It was like he didn’t exist to these people, that he was nothing more than a ghost.

Suddenly, he became aware of a small weight in the palm of his hand. Glancing down, he uncurled his fingers to reveal… a pin. Nothing extraordinary, just a black pin decorated with a white skull. Weird.

About a second later, Neku found himself reconsidering the thought that the pin wasn’t anything special. Sentences he did not understand the origin of floated into his head. _I wonder if Eiji Oji has posted anything new… checking his blog everyday is what I live for._

“Am I hearing people’s thoughts?” Neku realized. “What the hell _is_ this pin?” Assuming it had something to do with the pin, of course. For all he knew, he was just going crazy. Come to think of it, that seemed more likely.

“Wait… where am I?” That was probably the more important question. “How did I get here?” His memory was a blank- nothing except his name, Neku Sakuraba. That wasn’t particularly helpful. The thought occurred to him that maybe he shouldn’t freak out verbally, but people were ignoring him anyway. What did he have to lose? His personal pride and dignity, but… wait, why was he thinking about this? It wasn’t important right now!

_Beep!_

“Huh? Whose phone? Mine?” Neku reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and flipping it open so that he could read the text message he had been sent.

_“Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. -The Reapers.”_

“Oh, that’s cute,” Neku snorted, his disbelief written across his face. “See ya, spam. Deleted.” He pressed the key that would rid him of the message. It didn’t budge. “Huh? Still there…”

Suddenly, a white hot pain flared to life in his palm, his phone falling from his hand and hitting to the ground- luckily, the screen didn’t crack. “Ouch!” Grimacing, he glanced down at his hand to see the reason. Much to his shock, the numbers _60:00_ were branded on his skin in red, slowly ticking down.

His thoughts were pulled from his current predicament by the appearance of- wait, were those _frogs_ crawling from the walls?

Neku blinked once, then twice, just to check he wasn’t hallucinating. Nope, the frogs were still there, and now they were- attacking people?

He found himself unable to do much other than stare as the victims of the vicious, demonic frogs vanished into thin air, not leaving a trace behind. What was going on?

“Ow!” he yelled as one of the frogs suddenly latched onto his arm. Since when did the aquatic creatures have razor-sharp _fangs?_ “D-down, froggie.” Neku began trying to dislodge the persistent frog and _okay,_ these demon spawn were really painful. 

Finally, he pushed the frog off his arm and onto the floor. However, more of the frogs were starting to swarm him. If he stayed here, he would be done for.

Spotting an opening in the frogs, Neku ran for his life, regardless of the direction. He kept running until his muscles were screaming from fatigue. Gasping for breath, he glanced around. He appeared to be in front of a statue of some dog.

“Should be… safe... here…” he panted. He was proven wrong a second later as the mysterious frogs swarmed him again, their unnatural fangs sinking into his flesh. “Get off!” he yelled in pain, not really expecting the frogs to obey. They didn’t.

“Found one!” A distinctly feminine voice reached his ears, followed by the owner of the voice popping into his field of vision. Neku couldn’t exactly spare her much attention, however, given the fact that he was currently being _mutilated_ by demon frogs. “You! Forge a pact with me!” Yeah, she had to be talking to him. There was no one else.

“Uh… I’ve k-kinda- ugh- got my hands full?” he pointed out, voice twisted with pain. It was true too, because frog bites hurt like hell. Who would have guessed?

“Don’t be stupid! If we forge a pact, we can beat the Noise!” Seriously, was this girl crazy? Blind? Maybe both?

“Who c-cares about a little noise?” he yelped in pain, teeth gritted, and yeah, he was as good as dead. The frogs were still all over him- how he was still standing was a mystery. At this point, the girl had ran over to his side, trying to assist him in pulling off the frogs, even though she was accomplishing as much as he was (read: nothing).

“Do you wanna be erased? Hurry up, there’s no- ow- there’s no time!” One of the frogs, obviously unhappy with her attempts to help him, latched onto the girl’s arm, and she recoiled. Well, he was going to die anyway, so why not conform to the girl’s wishes? It would shut her up, at the very least.

“Uh… alright. I accept.”

A beam of blue light engulfed him, as well as the girl. His eyes widened, but before he had time to properly react, the light had dissipated. A tingling sensation filled his body. It was unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

“Now we can fight the Noise!” the girl announced, obviously pleased. “Here, take this pin!” She shoved a red pin, decorated with orange flames, into his hands. Neku managed to not lose his balance from the force behind the push, the frogs having been thrown off him when they forged the “pact” or whatever.

“What do I do with-” His question was cut off as one of the frogs caught up to him, bouncing towards him, fangs bared. He threw his hands in front of his face, eyes slipping shut, desperately thinking _please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me…_

The sizzle of fire caught his attention, eyes snapping open. The frog had been hit with a faceful of flames mid-leap. It fell to the ground, twitched a couple of times, then broke into a bunch of light particles, vanishing from sight.

_Did the pin do that?_ Neku wondered to himself. Suddenly, four frogs came into view. _Well, time to test that theory!_ The fire pin grasped tightly in his hand, he focused his attention on on his new enemies. The pin felt warm against his palm, an odd sort of comfort. _Burn the frogs,_ he commanded in his head.

Immediately, tongues of flame sprang up from the ground, licking at the unfortunate frogs. They became very, very still, trapped within the inferno. Neku’s eyes widened. _This… this pin can control fire!_

Once the new frogs had followed in the footsteps of their predecessor, he allowed the flames to cease, warily glancing around. Seeing no more enemies, he allowed himself to relax, attaching the pin to the collar of his shirt. It would be useful if he ever had to fight any more frogs.

“Wow! You can use the pin!” Neku whirled around, once again tense, but it was just the girl from earlier. “You must be some kind of psych genius! Guess I found the right partner, huh?” She laughed, smiling.

“A… psych? Is that what you call those flames?” _A psych,_ he repeated in his head. It seemed like such an odd name.

“Yup! The Noise won’t stand a chance.” _Noise…_ Neku remembered her mentioning them earlier, but what exactly were they?

“What are Noise?”

“They’re those monsters we just fought. Duh,” she replied, as though it were obvious. Maybe it was, but not in Neku’s opinion. “Anyway, where are my manners? My name’s Shiki Misaki. Call me Shiki. What’s yours?” She held out her hand, but it awkwardly fell back to her side when Neku didn’t take it.

_Wait. Forget her- where am I? How did I get here?_ Neku suddenly realized. He glanced around. _The sign says Shibuya Station… why am I in Shibuya? Where is Shibuya, for that matter?_

“Come on, tell me your name,” the girl- Shiki- insisted. Neku ignored her.

_I woke up at the crossing… I just need to retrace my steps._ He started to walk back to the crossing. He ignored the girl’s exclamation of shock. Maybe she’d get the message he didn’t want to talk.

Alas, when he arrived at the crossing, she was still there. “Why are you following me?” he yelped.

“Why are you making yourself so hard to follow?” she asked, her expression betraying her confusion. “We’re partners. We forged a pact. Partners stick together!”

“Screw you,” Neku snorted. “I go where I want.” _I don’t need some stalker dictating my life. Or a weird spam text, for that matter._

“Go where?” the girl asked, an annoyed look flickering across her expression. “There’s nowhere to go. We’re trapped in here!”

He rolled his eyes. Even if the girl hadn’t lost all her marbles (which he seriously doubted), there was definitely a hole in the bag. Nowhere to go? There were plenty of places to go, at least as far as he could see. Oh, and trapped? Where did she get that from?

Deciding not to satisfy the girl by responding, he simply walked off. He didn’t particularly care where he went; it was all the same to him. Unfortunately, his valiant endeavor to do what he wanted was cut short as he ran into an invisible barrier. “The hell-?”

“See?” Stalker was back. “Like I said- we’re trapped here. All we can do is complete the mission. Besides, if we don’t complete the mission, we’ll be erased.”

Neku remembered the ominous text, as well as the countdown on his palm, which was still ticking away the seconds. _Could it really be true? Then again, she’s been right about everything else so far._ “Don’t get me involved with this,” he responded, mostly to see how she would react, although if he could get out of whatever weird mess he was in, that was an added bonus.

“You’re already involved in this!” she snapped, before a questioning look crossed her face. “Don’t you have a countdown on your hand? I do…”

“Yeah. So what’s it mean?” He would like an explanation for that, at least.

“Well, it’s the time for the mission… if it runs out, you’ll be erased…” She seemed unsure, Neku noticed. “Anyway… what’s your name? You never introduced yourself.”

He sighed. “It’s Neku. Neku Sakuraba.”

“Neku, huh?” She laughed. “Cute name.” At that point, the girl glanced at her palm, and her eyes widened. “There’s only twenty minutes left! We have to hurry to Ten-Four!”

“Ten-Four?”

“You know, 104?” The girl seemed impatient- Neku supposed it was justified, if she was telling the truth about the timer. “Come on, there’s no time!”

He hesitated, but decided to follow her. In the worst case scenario, he’d pretty much be relying on her for survival. The best case scenario was that she’d be able to answer his questions, and he wouldn’t have to associate with her further- although he got the sense that was wishful thinking.

However, they were soon stopped by a wall much like the one Neku had encountered earlier. “Looks like it’s a no-go,” he stated flatly. The girl looked anxious.

“But this is the way to Ten-Four,” she responded. “How are we meant to complete the mission now?”

Neku shrugged, glancing around. His eyes were drawn to a figure in red standing nearby. Other people’s gazes seem to slide right over him, much like they did with the girl and himself.

“Hey, Neku, it’s open!” Neku turned around to see his partner standing on the opposite side of the wall that had been there previously.

“Why’d it open?” he asked cautiously.

“No idea,” she replied, a small shrug in her shoulders. “A lucky break, I guess.” She proceeded onwards. Neku followed her, but looked over her shoulder. _Something about that guy in red…_ Neku looked to the spot where he had been standing, only to find him gone. _Huh? Where did he go?_

After a short trek, they arrived at a large, tall building. “This is the 104 building…” the girl informed him thoughtfully.

Neku checked his palm, finding it free of the analog-styled numbers that had been there previously. “Timer’s gone.”

“Does that mean we completed the mission?” his resident stalker wondered. The look Neku gave her could not have more plainly conveyed the message of ‘are-you-for-real?’

The imminent argument was prevented by the arrival of a laughing female voice- the source was nowhere to be seen. “Pfft, big deal! Only an idiot would get erased on day one.”

The girl tensed up, Neku taking up a defensive pose. “Who’s there?” he demanded, looking around for the owner of the voice, although he saw nothing.

“Oh no… a Reaper?” his ‘partner’ whispered in horror. The word struck at a memory from earlier. _A Reaper… the text from earlier was from the Reapers._

“Anyway, I’d hate to do this to you, Neku, but a Reaper needs her points,” the mysterious voice continued.

At that point, more monsters- Noise, he remembered the girl calling them- flooded the area. They were mostly frogs (he vaguely noticed they seemed scrawnier than the ones from earlier), but there was one wolf among them, looking as malnourished as the frogs. It seemed odd to Neku- almost as though these Noise were weaker than the normal variety. The pinkette shifted into her own stance, while Neku began to draw on the power of the pyrokinesis pin, turning around to better face his new adversaries.

The wolf Noise led the charge, the frogs hopping behind it in droves. Neku stretched his hand out towards his enemies, warmth flooding through his fingertips. A moment later, the front of the horde was caught in the unnatural inferno, several frogs near the center simply disappearing with none of the grandeur its predecessors had, the wolf letting loose a long howl as the flames licked its fur, patches of it singed black.

His confidence bolstered, he dodged to the right as one of the remaining frogs leaped at his face. It didn’t take long for the offending frog and its kin to be incinerated, only leaving behind the injured wolf. It kept its front left leg tucked into its chest as it staggered towards him. At the same time, a ball of glowing green light settled around him, invigorating him. Neku narrowed his eyes at the Noise, calling forth a final burst of flame, empowered by his strength boost.. The wolf howled in pain once more, tossing its head back and revealing dirty yellow fangs as its form faded away.

“That fight was easier than I thought it was going to be,” Stalker commented, tucking the black plushie thing she had been carrying back under her arm. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen her participating in the fight, even though her words implied otherwise. Her expression, previously a thoughtful frown, then brightened. “Well, it doesn’t matter. We survived day one! Only six more days to go.”

“Six more days?” Neku asked suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, the Reaper’s Game is seven days long, right?” the girl explained. “Since we completed today’s mission, we’re done for now.”

_Until tomorrow…_ Neku thought, assuming what she said to be true. He really had no reason to doubt her- she’d been telling the truth up until this point, after all.

“You know, now that I think about it, that Reaper seemed to know you,” she mused, crossing one arm while her other hand tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” he replied harshly. “I’ve never met her before. She’s probably just trying to play mind games.” From what little he knew of the Reapers, it seemed likely- trick them into believing lies, so that they wouldn’t trust each other. Not that he actually trusted the girl, but his point remained.

She still seemed unsure, but appeared to settle for that explanation, presumably because she sensed he wasn’t going to share any more information on the subject. “Well, even so, it’s a little weird.”

Neku didn’t answer. He could tell this would be a long week.


	3. I Have To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an apology in regards to Fate Without Destiny, you can have this before I post it on fanfiction.net.

_Ugh, my head. Where…?_

Neku opened his eyes. His location was unfamiliar- it wasn’t Ten-Four, the crossing he had first woken up in, or the dog statue where he had met Stalker. There was graffiti lining the walls, dim lighting, and he could hear the dull roar of trains. Some kind of underpass?

He got to his feet, looking over to where Stalker was standing. She seemed distant, staring vacantly at her phone. Neku walked over to her. “Hey,” he stated flatly.

It was _immensely_ satisfying to see her jump, startled, a small gasp of surprise escaping her. “S-Sorry, Neku,” she apologized, breathless. “I didn’t see you there.”

He shrugged, not really caring. “Has the mission arrived yet?” He wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible- the sooner the pressure was off, the sooner he could actually stop and think about the situation he was in.

Stalker began to shake her head, just as their phones beeped. “Oh, well, there it is.” She read the mission aloud, as she already had her phone out.

  
_“Set the cursed sculpture free. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. -The Reapers”_

Right on cue, the timer from yesterday appeared on Neku’s palm, red numbers glaring up at him. He cringed at the pain it caused, spitting a curse, but quickly turned his thoughts to the mission.

 _Cursed sculpture?_ he wondered. _What could it- wait a minute._ He had pulled his own phone out to see if there were any clues in the text (there weren’t), only to notice something. _The date on my phone’s changed._ He mentioned it to Stalker.

“A day must have gone by,” she shrugged, not seeming too fussed. “I guess we fell asleep after the mission.” It was a perfectly logical explanation, but one detail didn’t add up.

“...How?” Neku deadpanned. “We were in the middle of the street in broad daylight.”

Stalker paused, thinking about it. “I guess it must be part of the Game,” she replied. Neku was _not_ satisfied with that answer, but before he could state this, she continued. “Anyway, I guess the statue must be Hachiko.”

“Hachiko?” he echoed. Stalker nodded.

“It’s that statue where we met yesterday,” she explained.

“Oh.” He paused. “Where are we now?”

“Miyashita Park Underpass,” she replied promptly. So he was right- they were in an underpass.

“So which way to Hachiko?” he queried, tilting his head. He didn’t like being dependent on the girl, but he had no choice from what he’d gathered. He didn’t want to know what happened when those timers hit zero.

“It’s this way,” she replied, walking off to the left. Neku followed her silently. However, they didn’t get far before they ran into the wall from yesterday.

“What now?” Stalker fretted. He ignored her. _We got past the wall yesterday… is there some kind of trick?_ He looked around the area, noticing a figure by one of the pillars. He was partially obscured by the shadows, so he hadn’t noticed him before. He was wearing a red hoodie. _It’s the guy from yesterday… what’s on his mind?_ He glanced at the white-skulled pin he had attached to his collar. _I’m going to try scanning him._

The scan itself was easy- coaxing thoughts from the figure wasn’t. All he was met with was a white expanse blanketing their mind, an impenetrable wall.

Weird. He withdrew from the figure’s mind. By now, Stalker had noticed his staring. “Neku, what are you looking at?” She turned, spotting the figure. “Do you know him, Neku?”

Neku ignored her. Suddenly, she gave a little gasp. “Neku, he’s coming towards us!”

_Really?_ Neku thought sarcastically. _I never would have guessed, Captain Obvious._

“You,” the figure rumbled, “erase all the Noise in the area.”

Neku frowned at the hooded figure. _Are those the conditions to move on?_ he wondered.

“Huh?” Stalker questioned. “But I don’t see any Noise.”

“The world is more than what you see,” the figure replied, before retreating back to his post.

_The world is more than what you see…_

“There aren’t any Noise here,” Stalker sighed, turning to him. He ignored her for a moment. _Maybe…_

“Yes there are,” he corrected. “We just have to scan for them.” To prove his point, he projected a scanning field. Sure enough, Noise of the frog variety were crawling all over the area.

“You’re right!” she realized after she did her own scan. “But, uh, Neku… shouldn’t you try some other pins?”

“Pins?” he echoed, turning to her.

“Yeah, they should’ve given you a whole bunch,” she confirmed. At her words, Neku searched his pockets, the only place on his person that could carry something. He discovered she was right, several pieces of metal brushing his fingers. He pulled them out- they were pretty self-explanatory, thanks to the icons.

He turned back to the Noise, sliding the pin marked by a hand into his grasp. He was pretty sure it was some sort of psychokinesis pin. He turned to see two frogs milling a little too close, and swept his hand towards them, focusing his mind on a nearby signpost, sending it crashing into them. They spasmed several times before fading away.

The rest of the frogs (six of them, if he was counting right) turned, having been aggravated by the erasure of their kin. They didn’t attack due to the pact, but once he used an offensive pin, that would change.

He slipped a pin marked by lightning into his hand, before directing his energy at one of the frogs. _Zap it,_ he commanded, pausing only to confirm the bolt had hit before repeating the process with another frog.

The four remaining frogs surged towards him, and Neku leaped back to avoid one of them latching onto his thigh. He switched to some kind of shockwave pin, moving towards the offending frog and swiping the hand holding the pin through the air in front of him. The frog was cut in two, as though it had been slashed by an invisible blade- which, in a way, it had.

The light ball from yesterday descended upon him, and he welcomed its invigorating strength. He changed to the final pin he hadn’t tested- some kind of plasma bullet, he assumed.

Neku held the pin out towards one of the frogs, summoning forth its power. He turned out to be correct, a ball of blue-white energy erasing the Noise it connected with, another meeting the same fate. Now, where was that last frog…

He turned a second too late, the final Noise sinking its fangs into the skin just below his knee. He let out a pained yelp, firing a bullet at the frog. It fell to the ground, but the blast has also nicked Neku, and he let out a string of breathless swears.

He avoided the temptation to probe the injury, knowing that doing so would only cause it to sting more. Instead, he just looked around for Stalker, who had mysteriously vanished again.

She was walking up behind him. “Wow, you can use all the pins! You really are a psych genius!” she praised.

“So? Using a few pins doesn’t make anyone a genius,” he replied. It’s not like you can’t- oh.

“Remember the pyrokinesis pin I gave you?” she began to say, but he had figured it out.

“You couldn’t use it,” he stated. “I get it. Certain pins only work for certain people. I’ve got to try them all and see.” He glanced at the small collection of pins in his palm.

“Neku… you have two Player Pins,” Stalker noticed. “You only need one.”

_Why do I have any of them?_ he wondered sullenly. _I don’t know why I’m here, and I have no clue what’s going on._ Aloud, he simply said, “So?”

“I m-mean, it doesn’t really matter,” Stalker added frantically, shaking her head. “T-Two are better than one, after all.”

Neku was silent. _You’re the person who said I only needed one. Seriously, you need to pick one opinion and stick with it._

“Neku, are you listening to me?” Stalker huffed, folding her arms. He shook himself out the reverie he had worked himself into. “Honestly, Neku. You should take off those headphones. It’s rude.”

“Would you _shut the hell up!”_ Neku hissed, eyes flashing in anger. He was pleased to see her flinch- she deserved it.

“You don’t have to yell…” she murmured. When he didn’t reply, she sighed, pulling out her cellphone and mumbling something too quiet for him to hear.

_Now she’s playing with her phone?_ Neku thought incredulously. _Forget this._ He turned towards where the wall had been, finding it gone. He started walking, half-hoping Stalker wouldn’t follow, although he knew she would.

“H-Hey, wait up!” Stalker called in alarm. Neku ignored her. If she wanted to follow, she could start walking.

Stalker caught up with him just as they exited the underpass. “What’s the big idea, Neku?” she demanded. “We’re partners-”

“Gotchu punks now!” They both turned at the intrusion of a new voice. The speaker was a blue-eyed blond male wearing a black and white hat, looking very annoyed. “You got us good yesterday.”

“What are you talking about?” Stalker asked, echoing Neku’s thoughts.

“Don’tchu play dumb wid me!” the new arrival snarled. “If you need a hint, go ask your friends!”

“Friends?” Stalker asked in confusion. “Neku, do you know this guy?”

“Don’t insult me.” Why would she even think that he was acquainted with this guy?

The guy didn’t seem convinced, and looked like he was ready to attack them. Neku tensed, preparing to defend himself if the boy made a move.

“Beat, they’re not Reapers!” The boy’s aggressive posture fell away at a young girl’s voice. Neku turned his head to see the owner of the voice walking towards them. She had the same blonde hair as the boy. “They’re Players, like us.”

_Oh. They’re Players. Well, it explains some things._

“It’s okay,” Stalker told the boy after he apologized. “My name is Shiki.” She looked at Neku expectantly.

“...Neku.”

“I’m Beat, and this is my… my partner, Rhyme,” the blond boy introduced.

“Oh, do you guys want another pin?” Rhyme asked. She showed them a pin marked by some kind of soda can. “We think it’s a healing pin. Neither of us can use it.” Neku shrugged, taking it. _Might as well. If it really is a healing pin…_ He glanced at the burn on his leg. It was still sore, but he’d managed to push it to the back of his mind.

“Thank you,” Stalker told them, probably on his behalf. “So, today’s mission… the sculpture’s gotta be Hachiko, right?”

“I assume so,” Rhyme replied. “Hey, we should team up and work together! Two heads are better than one, so four will be even better!”

“That’s a great idea!”

Neku decided to stop her right there. “We just met you. We’re not teaming up with you,” he said flatly. When Stalker’s expression changed to one of shock, he added, “If I had my way, I wouldn’t be working with you, either.”

There was a long silence.

“...C’mon, Rhyme, le’s bounce,” Beat announced, breaking the silence, his annoyance clear in his tone. “Phones don’t want us here.” He started to walk off.

“I’d better go,” Rhyme told them apologetically. “See you around!” She quickly followed her partner.

Stalker turned to Neku, fuming.

“Look what you’ve done, Neku!” she complained. “We could have gotten extra help!”

“Whatever,” he shrugged, not really caring. “I stand by what I said.”

Stalker made a noise of frustration. Neku just kept walking, knowing any ensuing conversation would be boring and repetitive. Predictably, Stalker followed a moment later.

They walked in silence, until they reached another wall. By this point, they had both figured out how to clear them. Sure enough, Neku found a red-clad Reaper standing nearby.

“Want past this wall?” he asked. At Neku’s nod, he continued. “Then lift the statue’s curse.”

“Lift the statue’s curse?” Stalker repeated discontentedly. “But that’s the mission, and the only way to Hachiko is through here.”

“They wouldn’t have set an impossible goal,” Neku stated. “We’ve just got to think.” With that said, he started looking around for something related to their goal. He noticed a guy standing next to a stone head, mumbling to what appeared to be thin air. _That guy… who’s he talking to?_

He crept closer, trying to catch what the guy was saying. “C’mon, you can tell me what’s ailing you. We’re not all made of stone.” _What? That doesn’t make sense._

“Neku, give the man some space,” Stalker reprimanded gently, coming up behind him.

He rolled his eyes. _Space? It’s not like he can see us anyway._ Regardless, he complied with the request, another idea coming to mind. _I’ll just scan him. See if it sheds any light on what he was going on about._

He projected the scanning field, only to have his attention drawn to the stone head beside him. Various Noise clung to it, emitting general feelings of negativity.

“Hey.” He nudged Stalker. “What’s that stone head thing? It’s crawling with Noise.”

“The Moyai?” she asked.

“Like on Easter Islands?” he questioned. “What’s a Moai doing here?”

“Moyai. With a Y!” she corrected crossly. “But… if there’s Noise on it, we should erase them.”

“Sure,” he agreed- it was a perfectly logical idea, compared to some of the other things she’d come up with. He turned back to the Moyai, taking note of the Noise- a couple of frogs and wolves, as well as what looked to be a hedgehog. He slipped three pins onto his collar next to the Player Pin- the pyrokinesis pin, slashing pin, and healing pin. He hadn’t forgotten about the burn on his leg, and he knew it would be an obvious target for the Noise.

He activated the healing pin, watching the burned flesh heal over, leaving no trace of the injury that had once been there. However, the energies of the psych had attracted the attention of the Noise. The element of surprise had been lost.

The frogs would be easy to deal with. The wolves were only slightly more problematic. The hedgehog was the new enemy, and therefore it would be safest to assume it was the strongest.

He decided to use the slashing pin first, knocking the Noise and outright erasing the frogs. He then switched to the pyrokinesis pin, a burst of flame incinerating one of the wolves. He then stepped out of the reach of the other wolf- only to have underestimated the hedgehog’s range.

The quills shot out, pricking him all over, blood bubbling to the surface. He froze for a second, but that was all the wolf Noise needed. Neku was tackled to the ground, the beast sinking its teeth into his arm.

Neku cried out in pain as he felt fragile bones snap under the pressure. He pressed his other hand up against the creature, instinctively summoning forth a flame. The wolf whined piteously before it was consumed.

Using his uninjured arm to help himself up, he quickly took note of the damage. As well as the broken bones, there was blood gushing from the actual bite mark. Neku gritted his teeth. He still didn’t know the extent of his healing pin, so if this didn’t work…

Thankfully, it did. The bite mark vanished, and his bones seemed to mend. Sure, his arm was still sore as hell and caked in blood, but it was better than nothing.

Turning back to the hedgehog, Neku switched back to the slashing pin, activating it twice in rapid succession. The remaining Noise froze, still for several long moments, before breaking off into particles of light.

“Neku, are you alright?”

Turning around to face a concerned-looking Stalker, he realized he was still holding his sore arm.

“I’m fine,” he told her, letting his arm drop to his side. Not letting her respond, he added, “Was that all the Noise?”

“Yeah, I think so,” she replied with a nod.

“Let’s go see if the wall’s down,” he suggested. Looking over, he suspected that it was- he couldn’t see the Reaper than had been there previously. True enough, when they walked over, the wall was gone. _Hopefully we won’t encounter any more interruptions. We don’t have time for this…_

Finally, Stalker stopped running. “Well, here we are.” 

Casting his eyes around, Neku noticed the dog statue- Hachiko- from yesterday. He projected a scanning field around Hachiko, but found no Noise. “There’s nothing here,” Neku informed, confused. _Is this the wrong sculpture?_ he wondered. _Then again, what do I know? Nothing, that’s what._

“Then what’s the curse?” Stalker questioned. 

_You’re asking me?_ Neku thought to himself. “What makes you think I know?” he asked. “Still, we should investigate.”

They moved towards the statue. Neku couldn’t see anything wrong with it, but Stalker had a small frown on her face.

“You know, now I look closer, Hachiko seems less… loveable?” _Less… loveable. Right. How do you measure an object’s loveability?_ Neku thought to himself.

“He looks different to when I saw him at Hachi Fest,” Stalker added.

“Hachi Fest?” Neku echoed.

“Yup!” Stalker nodded, a fond smile crossing her face. “It’s a blast. There’s a certain spot that if you find, you get good luck. But if you touch the wrong spot...”

“You explode?” Neku guessed.

“You get cursed!” Stalker corrected him crossly.

“Oh,” he replied dismissively. _Why did I even ask?_

A few minutes later, Neku figured that they weren’t going to get any more information from staring. “Let’s look around for more information,” he suggested. “We’re not going to lift the curse just standing around here.”

“That’s true,” Stalker admitted. “But where do we look?”

“I don’t know,” Neku replied, before remembering the man at the Moyai. _Wait… was he talking to the statue?_ “Maybe scanning will turn something up.”

Stalker agreed that it was worth a try. They retraced their steps, arriving at the area with the Moyai. _Where is he… ah, there we go._

Spotting the statue man, Neku quickly scanned his thoughts. _You feel better now, don’t you? Hachiko’s been looking down lately, too. He could use a good polish._

_Crazy statue man has a crazy idea. I should’ve guessed. Still, it’s the only idea we have._ “When you said Hachiko seemed less loveable, did you mean he was dirty?” he asked Stalker.

“Well, now you mention it, I did notice these strange blue markings, but I didn’t think to mention it.”

_Strange blue markings… ah._ Neku had seen them too, but he hadn’t known if they belonged there. Clearly, they didn’t.

“Maybe that’s the curse!” Stalker suggested.

_Or maybe someone just went crazy with a marker,_ Neku thought with a shrug. _Still, it’s the only idea we have- it can’t hurt to try._

“So… we’re going to polish Hachiko?” he asked. At Stalker’s nod, he added, “What with?”

“Um… you could try rubbing it?” she suggested. He stared at her in amazement. _Did she really just- you know what? Don’t even question it. Just try her idea. Unless you come up with a better idea, it’s all you have._

By the time they arrived at Hachiko again, Neku had decided he was done with walking. Then he remembered it was only the second day of the apparent seven. Oh, joy.

He approached Hachiko, focusing on the strange blue markings. Carefully, he rubbed at the edges of the lines. Dust fell away to reveal more markings. He trailed a finger down the marks, slowly uncovering odd, jagged shapes.

Suddenly, he heard a growl. He paused, looking around- nothing. Neku returned to his task, dismissing it as imagination.

Soon he had cleaned the entire statue of dust. Stepping back, he observed the pattern of the markings. They covered most of Hachiko, forming a structure much like the outline of a wolf.

Suddenly, he heard the growl again. It dawned on him where it was coming from and he leapt back. A moment later, a wolf Noise stood in the spot where had had been. _Well, that’s the curse._

Flames flickered at his fingertips as she prepared to fight. _I should’ve expected this,_ he mused, directing the psych at the wolf. _In any case, this Noise isn’t difficult to defeat._ He switched to the slashing pin. True to his point, his next attack erased the Noise.

“Did we do it? Did we lift the curse?” Stalker questioned anxiously. It was easy enough for Neku to check.

“Looks like it,” he confirmed, when he only saw blank skin on his palm.

“Nice work, Neku!” a familiar voice praised. He tensed, the energy contained within his pins rushing to his fingertips. “Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

He turned. The speaker was an adult female with bright pink hair, dressing in a black corset and white knee-high boots. “What are you talking about?” he demanded, recalling what Stalker said the day before about the Reaper seeming to know him. _But that can’t be right. I’ve never met this woman before in my life._

“Sorry, can’t say,” the Reaper replied cheerfully. “Boss’ orders, you know how it goes.” Before Neku could respond, however, she continued. “Anyway, you’re not enjoying the Game, are you?”

“Is it that obvious?” he deadpanned.

“Oh, dear! How awful!” the woman replied, her tone so sickeningly sweet it made Neku want to throw up. “Still, maybe we can compromise. How’s this: I give you a mission. If you complete it, I’ll let you out of the Game. Sound good?”

_There’s gotta be a catch._ “What’s the mission?” he asked warily.

“Sorry, I won’t tell you unless you accept,” she told him, faking an apologetic look. “Don’t worry, I promise it’s reeeal easy. Okay?”

“...Fine,” Neku decided. “I accept.”

“Your mission is to destroy that plushie your partner’s carrying around. You have one minute.”

“W-Wait a minute!” Stalker exclaimed in a panic, clutching her plush tightly. It was a pitiable sight, though Neku had already tuned her out, slipping the psychokinesis pin into his palm. Did he regret what he was about to do? Yes, of course. He wouldn’t admit it, but he felt absolutely awful. However, the cost seemed reasonable enough- it wasn’t like the Reaper had asked him to kill her.

One tug was all it took to pull the plushie out of Stalker’s grasp. Stalker reached for it desperately, her panic and distress obvious in the little noises she was making, but Neku was holding it too high. Neku tugged on it simultaneously from all directions, trying not to look, stretching the limbs out as far as they would go. One of the seams ripped slightly, a small amount of cotton falling out.

“N-Neku, please!” Stalker exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes, choking on her speech. “D-Don’t destroy Mr. Mew!”

“I have to!” he responded, preparing to give the plushie a final pull.

“Neku!” Stalker cried again, as more cotton fell out.

It took all of Neku’s willpower to ignore her desperate pleas.

“Hey, what are you doing?” an unfamiliar voice called.


End file.
